Ilah Mae (Kronebusch) Lettenmaier, age 95, longtime resident of Sanborn, ND passed away at SMP Health St. Raphael on July 7, 2023. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 AM Friday, July 14th at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sanborn. Visitation will be held on Thursday from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and one hour before Mass Friday morning. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM Thursday evening at the church. Interment will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery after the funeral.
Ilah was born on May 6, 1928, to Mathew and Isabel (Lienhart) Kronebusch. She attended school at Sanborn and graduated from high school as valedictorian in 1946. Ilah was a lifetime member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She attended hair design school in Fargo and worked as a hairdresser before marrying her high school sweetheart, Calvin Lettenmaier, on October 19, 1948, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. They farmed south of Sanborn in Hemen township and raised five sons and two daughters.
Ilah was on the Sanborn High School Girls basketball team that won the Barnes County tournament in 1946. She was a charter member of the Eckelson-Sanborn American Legion Auxiliary and held multiple offices throughout the years. She was also a charter member of Circle 4 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Ilah was a 4-H leader, CCD teacher, member of Sanborn school PTA and a supporter of anything Sanborn related; she was very civic minded. Ilah loved her flower and vegetable gardens and was loved for her dill pickles, apple pies and sour cream chocolate cake. Ilah loved to dance with her husband and will be fondly remembered for hosting multiple family holiday meals as her greatest love was for her ever-expanding family.
She is survived by her sons, David (Maureen), Kent (Connie); daughters, Maribeth (Richard ‘Olly’) Larson and Leanne (Jerry) Hayes; as well as daughters-in-law, Sandi, Loretta, and Mary.
She also leaves behind 19 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; sister, Jean Kihne; sisters-in-law, Sharon Kronebusch and Becky Aarestad; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and godchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Calvin; sons, Theodore, Duane, and Jerome; granddaughter, Christina; grandson, Steven; and brothers Donald, James, and Jerry.
Funeral arrangements by the Lerud Mathias Funeral Home of Valley City. She will be laid to rest in Sacred Heart Cemetery. The service will be live streamed, then archived, on a link provided along with her obituary on her tribute page at www.lerudmathias.com. An online guestbook is available there as well. The Lerud Mathias Funeral Home is assisting her family with arrangements.